Broxbourne CofE Primary School

Broxbourne CE Primary School Inspection report

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117437 Unique Reference Number HERTFORDSHIRE Local Authority 290834 Inspection number 4 July 2007 Inspection date Paul Cosway Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Primary Type of school Voluntary aided School category 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 245 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Penny Eyton-Jones Chair Mrs Shirley Whales Headteacher 11 November 2002 Date of previous school inspection Mill Lane School address Broxbourne Hertfordshire EN10 7AY

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01992 462419 Telephone number 01992 462419 Fax number

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3-11 Age group 4 July 2007 Inspection date 290834 Inspection number .

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by an Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

Broxbourne Church of England Primary School is close to average size. The school population represents a mix of social and minority ethnic backgrounds, but is mainly White British. Attainment on entry is above average, overall. The number of pupils eligible for free school meals is below average. The proportion of pupils whose first language is not English is also below the national average and there are a very small percentage of pupils at the early stages of learning English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities, including those with a statement of special educational need, is below the national average.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 10 Inspection Report: Broxbourne CE Primary School, 4 July 2007

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Grade: 2

The school judges itself to be good, and the inspection confirms this. Some aspects of the school's work are outstanding. The pupils' behaviour is excellent, both in class and around the school. Their attitude to school is outstandingly good. Almost all love coming to school, because, they say, 'Being here is fun and the lessons are so interesting.' The strong Christian ethos ensures that all children feel valued, no matter what their background or ability. One parent's comment summed up the views of many: 'We are lucky to be able to send our children here!' The attainment of most children at the end of reception is above that expected for their ages. At the end of Year 2 standards are above the national average. At the end of Year 6 standards are high and pupils have achieved well, bearing in mind their levels of attainment on entry. Almost all pupils reach at least the expected level for their age by the end of Year 6 in the

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Grade: 2

national tests in English, mathematics and science. A high proportion, more than half of the pupils, reach above average standards. Pupils' personal development is outstanding. They have interesting and challenging lessons and this leads to them concentrating and working hard in class. Attendance is well above average because pupils want to come to school. The well-planned curriculum and the outstanding care and support systems ensure all have equal chances to succeed. Excellent health education ensures pupils understand how to lead healthy lives. They have good preparation for their future from the many opportunities to work collaboratively and the good progress that they make in the development of literacy, numeracy and information and communication (ICT) skills. They make good contributions to the local community. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. Teaching and learning are good and sometimes outstanding. Teachers' management of their

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Grade: 2

classes is excellent and they plan interesting, challenging lessons. Pupils' academic progress is tracked well. The quality of marking is good in some classes, but not all teachers give enough written guidance to pupils on the next steps in their learning. The school is aware and has already planned improvements. Leadership and management are good. The headteacher and deputy lead the school well and have developed a strong sense of team work amongst the staff. The school is well placed to improve further. There has been good improvement since the last inspection and the school provides good value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that teachers, in their marking of pupils' books, explain to pupils what the next steps are to raise the level of their work and set them short-term targets for improvement.

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Grade: 2

In the Foundation Stage, children make good progress in literacy, numeracy and the development of social skills because the provision is good. Good teaching ensures that they are confident learners and all meet and some exceed the goals expected for their age by the end of reception. Results in the national tests for pupils in Year 2 have been consistently above the national average in recent years. All pupils reach at least the expected levels for their age and around a third of them reach above average levels. In Year 6, standards are high and all pupils, including those with learning difficulties and disabilities and the gifted and talented, achieve well. In 4 of 10 Inspection Report: Broxbourne CE Primary School, 4 July 2007 recent years, progress has been slightly better than that expected, but the current Year 6 have benefited from improvements in teaching and assessment. More than half have reached level

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Grade: 2

5 in English and mathematics. More than three quarters have reached Level 5 in science. In 2006, the school reached all of its challenging targets for Year 6 pupils. The provisional results of the Year 6 tests for 2007 indicate that the equally challenging targets this year have been exceeded.

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Grade: 1

Pupils' personal development, their behaviour and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are outstanding. Attendance is well above average, which reflects pupils' outstanding enjoyment of school. Staff present very good role models and treat pupils with respect. Consequently, almost all pupils are confident, polite and considerate. In class they listen carefully, are respectful to their teachers and concentrate very well on their work. They enjoy their lessons and appreciate all that their teachers do to make them interesting. Pupils make a good contribution to the school community. They have opportunities to be involved in decision making and their views are taken seriously and acted upon. The school council is an active force and helps pupils to learn to take responsibility for their decisions. All pupils flourish at the school. They have an excellent understanding of the need to stay

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Grade: 1

healthy. They feel completely safe and are prepared very well for their future well-being through the many opportunities for teamwork and the very good development of their information and communication technology (ICT) skills, as well as the high standards they reach in basic skills.

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Grade: 2

Teaching is good overall, with examples of outstanding teaching through the school. As a result, almost all pupils, including those with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language, make good progress. In the best lessons, expectations are high and the pace of teaching means that pupils learn quickly. All lessons are planned well, with different challenges to meet pupils' individual needs. In all classes, the management of pupils is excellent and relationships are very good. Pupils understand what they have to do because teachers explain the aims of the lesson clearly. Teachers use ICT very well as a teaching aid to make lessons exciting. Some teachers point out in their marking what pupils need to do to improve, but this is inconsistent and there are rarely opportunities for pupils to put the advice into practice.

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Grade: 2

The school organises lessons and activities that are very appropriate to the needs and interests of the pupils, so that they thoroughly enjoy learning and make good progress. In the Foundation Stage, there is a good mix of learning through play and more formal, taught lessons. In Years 1 to 6 all the required subjects are covered thoroughly and the school has plans to introduce French to Year 6 from September 2007. Teachers are starting to enliven learning through themes and projects. This is an area that is still developing. Where it happens, there is evidence that 5 of 10 Inspection Report: Broxbourne CE Primary School, 4 July 2007 the linking of subjects is successful in improving writing and encouraging pupils to question and find out more themselves. Healthy, safe and community-minded living is consistently promoted. The excellent teaching of personal, social and health education results in sensible and responsible pupils. The good

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Grade: 2

range of visits, clubs and activities outside lessons broadens pupils' education and further develops their social skills. Pupils with learning disabilities and difficulties and those who fall behind are given effective support.

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Grade: 1

The care and support of pupils are outstanding. As a result, pupils feel happy and very safe and all those spoken to were adamant that there is no bullying or racial discrimination. All staff give close attention to health and safety, including child protection arrangements. The checks on the suitability of all adults who come into contact with pupils fully meet requirements. The needs of pupils who are vulnerable or who have difficulties with their learning are carefully identified. There are good links with a wide range of agencies to support these pupils, who are made to feel valued members of the school community. All children are known well by all staff and, within the Christian ethos of this very caring school, there is a close family atmosphere of love, concern and respect. The academic guidance of pupils is good. Teachers are clear about how each pupil is progressing. However, not all pupils understand what they need to do to improve their work.

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Grade: 2

The headteacher leads and manages the school well, with good support from her deputy and the governing body. There are clear examples of improvement as a result of her monitoring of the work of the school and she has the full confidence and support of the staff and almost all parents. The school's capacity to make further progress is good. The headteacher has addressed the areas identified in the last inspection as needing improvement, such as the development of middle management skills and the use of assessment information to guide pupils' learning. There is a clear focus throughout the school on the need to raise standards. Consequently results in the national tests are rising and attendance, which was above average, is now well above. The school's self-evaluation is accurate and detailed. Almost all parents and pupils recognise that their opinions are taken into account. A small number of parents want more opportunities to meet teachers to discuss their children's progress.

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Grade: 2

The current arrangements match those in most primary schools, but the school is considering ways of extending them. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: Broxbourne CE Primary School, 4 July 2007 .

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 of 10 Inspection Report: Broxbourne CE Primary School, 4 July 2007

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Inspection judgements

School Overall Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

2 How well do learners achieve? 1 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The behaviour of learners 1 The attendance of learners 1 How well learners enjoy their education 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

1 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 8 of 10 Inspection Report: Broxbourne CE Primary School, 4 July 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 9 of 10 Inspection Report: Broxbourne CE Primary School, 4 July 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

4 July 2007 Dear Pupils Inspection of Broxbourne C of E Primary School, Broxbourne, EN10 7AY Thank you for being so friendly and helpful to me when I visited your school. You all told me how much you like your school and I agree with you that it is a good school and some parts are outstanding. I was very impressed with how helpful and kind you are to each other, so that the school feels like one large family. I enjoyed the lessons that I shared with you and saw how well you work. Your singing of the songs from 'Joseph' was beautiful! These are some more of the things I admired about your school.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your behaviour is excellent and you work very hard.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You have an excellent understanding of how to live healthy lives.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Teachers work hard to make lessons very enjoyable.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Teachers, teaching assistants and all adults care for you very well indeed.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your school is led well and continuing to improve.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I have asked your school to try to make things even better. This is the most important thing.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Teachers should always show you how to make your work better and give you small targets to reach the next level. Continue to work hard and make the most of your time at this lovely school! Paul Cosway Lead Inspector 10 of 10 Inspection Report: Broxbourne CE Primary School, 4 July 2007

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